Okemah library offering free financial kits

April is National Financial Literacy Month and to celebrate, the Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition is observing Money Smart Week, April 21-28. Helping to promote financial education statewide, the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) is offering free Financial Fitness Kits through public libraries, including the Okemah Public Library, Tinker Federal Credit Union branches and online at www.KnowWhatCounts.org.
Money Smart Week brings organizations, businesses and schools together to educate Oklahomans about important money issues, and the OSCPA’s free Financial Fitness Kits were created to help Oklahomans year-round with a variety of financial issues.
In the “2018 Prosperity Now Scorecard,” Oklahoma ranked 45th (out of 51, essentially earning a “D”) in income and financial assets outcome measures that include liquid asset poverty rate, net worth, emergency savings, unbanked and underbanked households, borrowers over 75 percent of their credit card limit, severely delinquent borrowers, consumers with collections, bankruptcy rates and more. Oklahoma also ranked 44th (“D”) in health care outcome measures that included uninsured rates, uninsured low-income children, poor or fair health status and more. Oklahoma ranked 45th (“D”) on education outcome measures that included median student loan debt, four-year degrees, reading and math proficiencies and more. Oklahoma’s overall ranking was 40th of 51 (“D”).
The OSCPA’s free Financial Fitness Kits include sections on establishing a budget, understanding insurance, facing family issues, dealing with taxes, preparing for and overcoming a crisis, avoiding scams and more.
“The feedback we receive is so positive, it encourages our members, CPAs, to put together the best Financial Fitness Kit that we can,” said Amy Welch, APR, CAE, vice president of communications for the OSCPA. “We are thankful to have community partnerships with public libraries across the state, which helps us provide this valuable information at no charge for Oklahomans.”
The 2018 OSCPA Financial Fitness Kits are sponsored by Tinker Federal Credit Union; Quail Creek Bank; Donna J. Jackson, CPA, Attorney at Law; Retirement Investment Advisors, WEOKIE Credit Union and the Oklahoma Bankers Association. Kits can also be downloaded from www.KnowWhatCounts.org.